Police chief’s video on Myrtle Beach shooting filmed days before release. Why the delay?
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It took three weeks for Myrtle Beach Police to prepare and release its latest update of the deadly mass shooting that happened along Myrtle Beach’s busy tourist section last month.
The result was a professionally edited and curated video that featured Myrtle Beach Police Chief Amy Prock speaking about the police investigation and the release of dash cam footage from a nearby police vehicle.
It was unlike the in-person press conference which city officials and police conducted four days after the North Ocean Boulevard shooting.
The latest update comes more than a month after the officer-involved shooting that left an armed suspect dead and 11 other people injured.
Myrtle Beach Police and city officials have been under scrutiny for not releasing information, including officer dash cam footage, about the shooting that happened just before midnight on April 26, 2025.
It wasn’t until four days after the shooting that Prock and Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune conducted a community press conference. The press conference offered limited details with officials citing a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s investigation into the shooting as the reason for not providing more information.
How long is the time between filming interviews and releasing information to the public?
Preparation for the latest update began about May 8, according to Myrtle Beach Police spokesperson Randolph Angotti.
Angotti said he wasn’t sure of the date of Chief Prock’s filming, but said it took one day and was either May 23 or May 26. The video was released on May 29.
Angotti said the reason it took so long to release the information was that officials met with SLED to approve information that could be released and that it took time to comb through dash cam footage that could be included. In addition, the video had to undergo an editing process and wait for final approval before released, Angotti said.
The video was produced in conjunction with the City of Myrtle Beach and the Myrtle Beach Police Department, Angotti said.
“We have worked carefully with our partners to share the information we have while protecting the integrity of the investigation,” Angotti said in an email. “This release is part of a broader, coordinated response as SLED continues its investigation, and we work closely with our regional and state partners in both South Carolina and North Carolina. ... The release is focused on providing a more complete picture of the broader situation. Our commitment is to transparency and accountability.”
Police said that Jerrius Davis, of Bennettsville, shot into the crowd along the sidewalk in the 900 block of North Ocean Boulevard, prompting officers to return fire, killing Davis.
Dash cam footage released in the May 29 video shows Davis firing four shots into a crowd along the sidewalk outside of a restaurant. Seconds later, Officer Brandon O’Rourke exits the restaurant, followed by two other officers, and fires five rounds into the crowd toward Davis. The other two officers were identified as Mohamad El-Kelwi and Jeramiah Johnson.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division continues to investigate the officer-involved shooting. O’Rourke remains on administrative leave during the investigation.
Myrtle Beach Police have arrested Jawarren Bethea, 18, of Laurinburg, and two unnamed juveniles in connection to the incident.
